When we were looking to purchase a house a few months ago, a friend of us warned us not to buy a house that was over 15 years old. His logic was “things start going wrong right about that time.”
We haven’t had too many problems with our 1993-built house.
But, one day we started hearing clicking noises throughout the house. It sounded like our water pump was trying to pump water so we would walk through the house listening for where there might be a water leak. Nothing was found.
Shortly thereafter, we noticed that some of our faucets were doing what I call quick-steps. The water would flow at one rate then give a little extra push of extra water. We always had water but it seemed to come with a unique flow pattern in some areas of the house (mainly the showers).
Compounding the problem, our Brita filter didn’t seem to be working as efficiently as it should have. I’d have to replace the filter once every 6-8 weeks instead of the “usual” 3 months that’s recommended.
After having a well tank specialist diagnose our problem (the tank is broken) we went ahead and had the well tank replaced with the same kind — a Challenger — which holds 62 gallons of water. There are different types of well tanks. Ours has a rubber piece inside that is called a bladder. This round piece separates the water from the air at the top of the tank.
When the water is turned on, the air compresses down on the rubber and the water is pushed out to flow to the hot water tank, the sediment filter and the water softener.
This requires (for me) quite a bit of thought.
The main problem was that the bladder in the well tank was broken and can’t be replaced. Too bad. I think they should make a well tank that has a removable top so that the rubber bladder can be replaced instead of having to replace the whole tank. But — that thought is from a novice thinker — me.
The specialist was quite efficient. He brought his own hose and drained most of the water out of the well tank — all except 15 gallons that wouldn’t come out. The water that flowed out was black. Yuck!
Because of this problem, the rest of the house has been impacted. It’s possible that our ice dispenser may be plugged because of it. We now have the task of cleaning out the filter in the basement that flows to the refrigerator. We’ll see if that solves the problem.
There is quite a bit of learning when you buy a house with a septic and a well as opposed to buying a house that has city utilities.
